I posted these earlier on the "kamadan" thread, but having seen their picture in the magazine recently (and given that some people miss these critters!) I thought they deserved their own thread.
Dire Corby (CR 1)
NE Medium Monstrous Humanoid
Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Listen +3, Spot +3
Languages Undercommon
AC 14, touch 11, flat-footed 13
hp 11 (2 HD); ferocity
Immune fear
Fort +1, Ref +4, Will +3
Spd 30 ft.
Melee 2 claws +5 (1d6+3)
Base Atk +2; Grp +5
Atk Options leap attack
Abilities Str 16, Dex 15, Con 13, Int 6, Wis 12, Cha 8
Feats Blind-Fight, Run (B)
Skills Balance +6, Climb +7, Hide +3, Jump +7, Listen +3, Spot +3
Leap Attack (Ex): A dire corby begins combat by combining a jump with a charge against an opponent. If it covers at least 10 feet of horizontal distance with its jump, and ends its jump in a square from which it threatens a target, it can attack with both claws at a +5 bonus for 1d6+5 points of damage each.
This attack follows all the normal rules for using the Jump skill and for making a charge, except that the dire corby ignores rough terrain in any square it jumps over.
Ferocity (Ex): A dire corby is such a tenacious combatant that it continues to fight without penalty even while disabled or dying.
Immunity to Fear (Ex): Dire corbies are immune to all fear effects, and to any spells, powers, or effects involving a morale penalty.
Skills: Dire corbies receive a +4 racial bonus on Balance and Climb checks due to their clawed limbs. They also receive a +4 racial bonus to Jump checks. A dire corby can always take 10 on Balance, Climb, and Jump checks, even when conditions would normally prevent it.
Once again respecting the Dire Corby. I was using a kenku barbarian build, but now...
Were the dire corby updated in one of the OGL Tome of Horrors or whatnot?
We need to have a GameMastery module with them as villains!
Were the dire corby updated in one of the OGL Tome of Horrors or whatnot?
I think they were in the ToH; at least, they were converted over at EnWorld, but I've found those sources good for quantity of monsters more than anything. I give them total respects for sheer scale of the undertaking, but many of the conversions seem, well, uninspired.
Were the dire corby updated in one of the OGL Tome of Horrors or whatnot?I think they were in the ToH; at least, they were converted over at EnWorld, but I've found those sources good for quantity of monsters more than anything. I give them total respects for sheer scale of the undertaking, but many of the conversions seem, well, uninspired.
Hmm...
Well if it is allowed, I could update them and write a module. I'm still waiting for the submission guidelines. :(
They could actually make cool villains. I've liked what I've seen from my copy of the Fiend Folio. (Used book stores, FTW!)
They could actually make cool villains. I've liked what I've seen from my copy of the Fiend Folio. (Used book stores, FTW!)
I like them because of Manley Wade Wellman's The Old Gods Waken--in Gygax's inspirational reading list from the 1e DMG, for you old-timers out there. There are a pair of evil druids who summon a bunch of monsters that for the life of me I couldn't picture as other than half-fiend dire corbies. One question--again showing my age--is "FTW" still the same acronym as when the old outlaw biker gangs used to use it?
I'd up the CR to 2 myself. They effectively have 21 HP with the ferocity and a sleep spell from an average (25/28 point array wizard)will put them down about 45% of the time.
Yeah, I was torn on that, because they're really like a 1.5. Effectiveness-wise, they probably are on a par with the (CR 2) dire weasel, for example, so it's probably reasonable to round up to CR 2.
DOOM!
Yer darn tootin'! Dr. Jacobs still hates 'em, though!
MUCH nicer than the Creature Catalouge (ENWorld) version. That one is downright bland, but this? This is nice.
What did this have to do with the Kamadan though?
MUCH nicer than the Creature Catalouge (ENWorld) version. That one is downright bland, but this? This is nice.
Thanks! I figure if a critter doesn't really have anything to set it apart, there is no point in converting it.
What did this have to do with the Kamadan though?
Not much, which is why I started this thread. James Jacobs made this comment over there:
Dire Corby: This is a lame monster because he's a bird man who runs around flaping his arms and screaming "DOOM! DOOM!" Pass. Especially when kenku can do everything a dire corby can do, but better and with more style and without looking like a chump.
Which got me thinking that maybe the dire corby didn't HAVE to be quite so lame as he described it.
Yeah, the only problem I have with the Dire Corby is that the Kenku already does what they do, and in some cases, better than they do.
On the other hand, if we can have the Asherai AND the spawn of Tiamat, then we can have two different kinds of birdmen too. If you're going to do that, might as well make them somewhat interesting.
... DOOM! DOOM! DOOM!
One question--again showing my age--is "FTW" still the same acronym as when the old outlaw biker gangs used to use it?
No. It now means "For The Win" or variations on that.
Threw me for a while, too. acronymfinder.com is your friend.
Yay for the dire corby (points out tongue at JJ).
Now all we need is someone to stat up the symbiotic jelly and the thoul!
Now all we need is someone to stat up the symbiotic jelly and the thoul!
For an impromptu thoul, I applied the half-troll template to a hobgoblin, then applied the ghoulish temnplate to that. An even nastier creature in that adventure was "the Gnawer of Bones," a ghoulish half-troll gray render.
Yeah, the only problem I have with the Dire Corby is that the Kenku already does what they do, and in some cases, better than they do.
If you like, think of the dire corby as a debased, subterranean offshoot of the kenku... one that regular kenku hate and fear, maybe. But, really, putting aside the cosmetic similarities, mechanically-speaking the monster I've statted here bears very little resemblance at all to the kenku (which was on purpose; if they had been similar, I would have just used kenku). We already have umpteen bazillion humanoid races; why not another vaguely birdman race, as long as it's different from any existing ones?
It now means "For The Win" or variations on that.
Geez... DEFINITELY not the same as the bikers' "FTW!" then! Thanks for the link, BTW!
It now means "For The Win" or variations on that.Geez... DEFINITELY not the same as the bikers' "FTW!" then! Thanks for the link, BTW!
I don't even know what the biker FTW is.
I meant "Used book stores for the win!" cuz I've purchased both the 1e DMG and Fiend Folio there for very low prices.
Oh, and I just realized. Why am I asking about conversions of the dire corby when that's the whole point of this thread. :P
I don't even know what the biker FTW is.
"F--- the World!"
I meant "Used book stores for the win!" cuz I've purchased both the 1e DMG and Fiend Folio there for very low prices.
Another sign of my advancing age: I've had 'em since they were still in print. The DMG with the City of Brass cover illustration, not the later one.
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Another sign of my advancing age: I've had 'em since they were still in print. The DMG with the City of Brass cover illustration, not the later one.
I know what you mean. My friend bought it before he bought the monster manual. It had all the monster stats in the back of it in table format. We played imagining that piercers were humanoid monsters with long fangs and claws until we got a monster manual to correct that. LOL
We played imagining that piercers were humanoid monsters with long fangs and claws until we got a monster manual to correct that.
AWESOME! That quote just made my day.
Another sign of my advancing age: I've had 'em since they were still in print. The DMG with the City of Brass cover illustration, not the later one.
I think that's the one. The one with the efreeti on the front cover and the City of Brass on the back? I'm unaware of any other 1e cover for the DMG.
I think that's the one. The one with the efreeti on the front cover and the City of Brass on the back? I'm unaware of any other 1e cover for the DMG.
I think there was a brief reprint at one point with a different front cover, but the copyright page still said "Cover: The book cover painting shows an encounter between three adventurers and an efreet on the Elemental Plane of Fire. The fabled City of Brass can be seen floating over a flame-swept sea of oil." We got a few chuckles out of that one, although I can't remember what the new cover actually did show.